New Year's Eve
by AlabasterConstellation
Summary: AU: Shikamaru arrived at the bar to celebrate the New Year with his close friends. He wasn't expecting to find the undeniably attractive blond challenging his every move. The night turned into a battle of wits and ended in what became a very flirtatious beginning to the year. One-shot. Implied SasuSaku, NaruHina, SaiIno, NejiTen, ChouKarui.


He scanned the crowded room looking for any familiar face. After spotting the plump man, Shikamaru shoved a few dollars in the tip jar and said thanks to the bartender. He moved through the dance floor and joined the old friend of his.

Chouji smiled at him and walked towards a table in the back of the room that was roped off. Seated there was a blond man who was chatting animatedly to a pink haired girl and a raven haired man. Next to them was one of his oldest friends and she was in what looked like a heated argument with a man with shaggy brown hair. A woman with chocolate brown hair that was tied back was trying to pull the man away from the angry blond but gave up and turned back to the figure in green who was attempting to finish a small bottle. But before he could touch his lips to the rim, a pale hand grabbed the green man's arm and pushed the bottle back down onto the table. Shino saw Shikamaru moving towards them and scooted down the bench to make room for him.

"Hey Shika!" Ino shouted as he moved towards the table. He sat down next to Shino and greeted everyone, drink in hand.

"How have you been?" Naruto asked him kindly. He hadn't seen the blond boy in a few months and was surprised at how calm he sounded it. Shikamaru guessed his diplomatic tour across the globe must have had an influence on Naruto's new found maturity.

"Busy. How about you? How's it going with Hinata?" Pink spread across Naruto's cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah well I'm fine and Hinata's good. We're happy." He smiled as the pink haired girl shoved his shoulder playfully.

"Finally took you two long enough!" Sakura exclaimed while the rest of the group gave her approving nods. Shikamaru scanned the table once again and noticed a few missing people.

"Where is Hinata?"

"She is attending to some family business but will be arriving very soon." Neji answered in Naruto's place. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages. "In fact, the driver is bringing her around now. I'll go greet her outside."

Before he could get up, Naruto had already jumped out of his seat.

"I'll get her!" He shouted before running off. Neji sighed, putting his phone away.

"Still not cool with them dating?" Shikamaru asked. Neji shook his head and took a sip of his whiskey.

"No, I know Naruto is a good kid. I just don't understand what she sees in him."

"Neither do most of us." Kiba laughed. Shikamaru turned his attention to Ino.

"I'm guessing Sai's gone for business?"

Ino immediately turned from laughter to rage. She rolled her eyes and threw back the rest of the margarita in front of her, showing off a large diamond ring in the process.

"Yeah! Can you believe he's opening a showcase on New Year's Eve? I mean I'm excited for him but all this world traveling is making wedding preparations a fucking nightmare. How am I supposed to pick out a color scheme when he's all the way in Beijing showing off some god damn painting!"

"Trouble in paradise?" Tenten joked. Ino shook her head.

"Nah just stressed. I'm honestly really excited." She grinned staring at her enormous wedding ring. Her and Sai were the first ones to get married in their large group of friends and theirs would be the first wedding. Shikamaru was happy for the two of them and was looking forward to the day.

"Oh! I hope you don't mind but I invited some of my colleagues from Suna. You guys remember Gaara right? Him and his brother and sister are joining us tonight while they're in town. I didn't want them to celebrate the New Year alone."

"Wait Gaara's coming?" Said Naruto, Hinata in hand. She waved gracefully at all of them and sat down next to Sakura, Naruto following in suit.

"Hinata how are you?" Lee slurred, head slightly rolling to side. Hinata giggled.

"I am doing well Lee and might I ask about yourself?" She politely responded. Lee hiccuped and tried once again to take another drink of the sake but was stopped this time by Tenten.

"It's not even 11 Lee, slow it down." Lee ignored her comment and shot straight up. The table moved violently up with him and everyone grabbed their drinks quickly before they spilled.

"I AM DOING WONDERFUL HINATA SINCE A NEW YEAR IS APPROACHING! THIS YEAR WILL BE THE YEAR SAKURA FINALLY GOES OUT WITH ME! I CAN FEEL IT!" He pointed to Sakura who blushed and looked towards Ino only to find the blond was rolling her eyes.

"Give it up Lee." Naruto said trying to put down the eccentric man. But before Lee could retaliate, Neji had pulled Lee back onto the bench and Tenten had slapped her hand over his mouth. While everyone was preoccupied with Lee, Shikamaru watched as Sakura looked towards Sasuke who smiled ever so slightly at her. He saw Sasuke's arm move and knew that the man had most likely grabbed Sakura's hand underneath the table. Sakura's blush grew as she tried to keep a straight face while Sasuke turned back to the scene. _So they're dating now?_ He thought. Sakura reached into her purse to grab her phone. After checking her message, she interrupted the current conversation.

"They're here. I'm going to go get them but while I'm up do you guys want to just hit the dance floor? It's looking really good." She said pointing to the large expanse where more and more people were slowly starting to make their way. Ino nodded and turned to Kiba.

"My fiance isn't here for the night so it's your job to make sure creepy dudes don't hit on me." Kiba rolled his eyes. Hinata, Tenten, Ino, and Lee were the only ones who agreed to join Sakura on the dance floor. Once they left, Shikamaru went on.

"So how long has that been going on?" He directed his question towards Sasuke who gave him a questioning look that Shikamaru saw right past.

"Fine then, nevermind." Shikamaru took a swig of his drink and he saw Sasuke give him a look that could have been interpreted as _shut up_. He then turned towards Chouji.

"How is work?"

"Going great! The opening was a huge success and we're booked straight for the next few months! I barely managed to close the restaurant for tonight." He replied popping a few peanuts into his mouth. Shikamaru continued.

"And how's the long distance thing going?"

"It was difficult at first but Karui and I are doing really well. She's even looking for a job in Konoha so that we can be together."

"I'm happy for you man." Shikamaru said patting Chouji on the back. The latter smiled in embarrassment and pressed further on.

"Who knows? There might even be another wedding to plan soon." The group looked at him in surprise. Kiba was the first to get his opinion across.

"No way man! You're really going to ask her to marry you?!" The rest of the men threw in their various remarks of congratulations. As they talked, Shikamaru turned his attentions to the bar.

She was standing there confidently, looking more powerful than anyone else he had ever met. She smiled coyly at the bartender and stirred the drink in hand with calculated flirtatious precision. The men around her were unable to do anything but stare at the woman and when she spoke, they threw their heads back in laughter.

She was tall with rough dirty blond hair that was pinned back in a high ponytail. She was very curvy and wore a tight body hugging black dress that emphasized her curves in the right ways. From afar he could tell she was very beautiful and it was made clear by the way men seemed to be offering her drinks. He wanted to take a closer look at her to find out first hand what made the woman so enticing.

"Shikamaru?" He turned his head back to the table and saw the men looking at him expectantly. He glanced one more time at the woman then turned his head back over to his friends.

"Sorry, I was distracted. What was that?" They looked past him to see where he was staring. Sasuke was the first to notice where his gaze had been and smirked which was soon followed by Kiba's remarks.

"Looks like you found a hottie." He wiggled his eyebrows at Shikamaru who ignored him. Naruto started the charge.

"Go buy her a drink!"

"No."

"What the heck man! You make like no effort to get a girlfriend."

"Women are a hassle."

"Augh tell me about it." Kiba said in a worn out voice but Naruto continued.

"Yeah but you obviously think she's hot so go buy her a drink!"

Shikamaru would have normally kept the argument going and ultimately would have said no but this time around he was feeling daring. He ventured further but he already had the end goal made up.

"You think I should?"

"YES!" Naruto shouted. Shikamaru turned to Chouji who was nodding at him in encouragement.

"Alright." He stood up, beer in hand, and gave them one last look.

"Good luck." Neji said as Shikamaru walked over to her.

As he moved closer and closer, he could hear her booming voice as she spoke to the bartender. He noticed the short heels and his eyes trailed up from there, spending a longer than appropriate amount of time on her lower back region. Before he could go any further, her voice broke his thoughts.

"Had a good look did you?" She said to him. He snapped out of his daze and quickly moved himself into the empty spot next to her at the bar. She stared at him, almost glowering, as he placed his drink down.

"Sorry." He began. He thought quickly about what he should say to make the situation less awkward. "But you look better than anyone here."

She laughed haughtily and rolled her eyes.

"Uh-uh?" She said in mock encouragement. Shikamaru wasn't going to let the first encounter deter him.

"How about I buy you a drink to make it up?" This time she looked at him incredulously.

"No thanks."

"Why not?"

"A beer isn't equal payment for staring at my ass."

"So you're just going to let me stare for free then?" He challenged, a smirk playing on his lips. Instead of anger though, she sucked in her cheeks and forced a smile.

"Think of it as a taste of what you could never get."

"Well why don't I buy you a beer anyways?" He pressed on.

"I don't need some guy to buy me a beer, thank you very much. I'm more than capable of buying one myself."

"I never said you weren't."

She stared at him for a while before starting again.

"Why do you want to buy me a beer huh? You want to sleep with me? Hoping to get a New Years fuck?" He was taken aback and it clearly showed on his face by the way she smirked. She was vulgar and upfront and for some reason he liked that. Recovering fast, Shikamaru began again.

"I guess that would be one way to start the New Year." He grinned at her taking a drink from his almost empty bottle. "But I just wanted to treat a pretty girl to a drink."

"Well you can keep your beer and your lame compliments. I don't want a beer especially from you so how about for the rest of the year you just don't buy me a drink." She said clearly thinking her New Year's joke was particularly clever. As she walked off, Shikamaru checked her out for the second time that night. Right when he got to where he had left off, as if she had eyes on the back of her head, she turned to look at him, smirked, then kept walking. He grinned and joined his friends back at the table. They had clearly witnessed the scene and were already giving him piteous looks.

"Ooooooh, way to crash and burn man." Kiba said. He sat down and explained what happened, how he had asked to buy her a drink, how she had caught him staring, and how it all fell apart. After he finished, they all began chiming in, giving him advice and encouragement for the next time he tried to hit on a woman. The conversation moved away from his sad attempt at picking up a girl to Neji's current business plans and traveled all the way to sports. They were in the middle of commenting on the latest hockey game when Sakura returned with Hinata, Ino, Lee, Tenten, and some new people. Shikamaru immediately recognized one of them and couldn't help but smirk as their eyes met.

"Hey guys! These are my friends from Suna. You guys know Gaara, and this is Kankuro, and that's Temari. Guys, this is Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Ino, Kiba, Tenten, Neji, Chouji, Lee, and Shikamaru."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Temari greeted them. Before anyone else could respond, Shikamaru replied.

"The pleasure is all ours." Temari glared at him as he got up off of the bench to make room for her brother. After all the seats were reassembled and everyone was sitting by their significant others or close friends, Temari had somehow managed to sit right across from him. Ino turned to the girl.

"Temari, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight. That dress looks stunning on you!" She complimented.

"Thanks. You're not the first to notice though." She looked at Shikamaru waiting for a reaction. He finished his drink and put the bottle back down.

"Seems like you're dressed for a New Year's fuck." Shikamaru threw at her. Ino gave him a shocked look while Temari just scoffed.

"Well at least one of us might go home lucky tonight. You gonna start the New Year's off with your hand?" She was challenging him and Shikamaru was thrilled. He saw everyone start to quiet down and pay attention to the debate.

"What? Are your boyfriends, woody and buzz, waiting for you back at home?" He said, alluding to a use of personal pleasure toys. She threw her head back and laughed. He continued, trying to keep momentum.

"Because if that is the case and you're looking for some real male companionship, I could do the job a lot better than your battery packed toys could do." He finished glancing at Kiba who was unable to contain himself and was howling in laughter. She gave him a mean look then dramatically looked him up and down.

"I don't know if a BOY like you could handle this." She said leaning back. Shikamaru had her cornered.

"Why don't we find out?"

She rolled her eyes hard and crossed her arms.

"Am I missing something here?" Ino asked but Temari quickly cut her off.

"You're disgusting and rude and never has a man ever talked to me like that." She pointed a finger at him. His smile grew wider.

"No longer a boy but a man huh? Seems like I'm not the only one taking notice of particular areas." She grew red at the implication.

"Shut up." She said and he knew he had won. Kiba was recovering from laughter as Shikamaru got up from the table and headed back to the bar. He greeted the bartender and placed down his card.

"I need 14 beers." The bartender nodded and soon after two waitresses came around carrying two trays of drinks. They followed him back to the table and once they arrived he grabbed some and started handing them out to specific people. Finally everyone had a beer in hand. Everyone except for Temari and her lack of drink didn't go unnoticed.

"Where's mine?" She asked, malice in her voice.

"What are talking about?" He said, trying to mask the laughter in his.

"My beer. You bought a round and forgot mine."

He sat back down across from her and made an effort to lean in closer to the woman before he said his line.

"You, and I quote, specifically said 'how about for the rest of the year you just don't buy me a drink'. I'm doing as you asked." He leaned back.

"Those weren't the exact words." She challenged but he shook his head.

"I have an eidetic memory. You said those words exactly."

"So you're some kind of genius huh?"

"You could call me that."

"So, genius, why did you fail so hard when you tried to hit on me? If you were soooooooo smart, why couldn't you see just how out of your league I am?" He was ready to play a move that he hoped would bring him back into her good graces.

"Who said I couldn't?" He replied taking a nice long drink while still remaining eye contact. "I like a challenge."

Temari couldn't hide her outrage any longer. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her arms were folded across her chest as she thought about how to combat him next. She waited a good long minute before pushing herself off of the bench and walked towards the bar. His eyes followed her as she chatted up the bartender.

"Someone please explain what the hell is happening?" Ino finally broke the silence. Kiba explained quickly before Temari could arrive.

"Shikamaru over here tried to hit on her and totally failed." The comment received him a raised eyebrow from Gaara and a laugh from the other brother, Kankuro.

"HA! Good luck with that one." He warned Shikamaru. Soon after, Temari strolled back with two shots in her hand. She placed them down on the table and slid them both over to Shikamaru.

"Pick one."

"What?" He said unable to mask his confusion. She just smiled at him and pushed them closer.

"Pick a shot. I'll take the other one. We'll call it a truce shot?" She offered. Shikamaru studied both of the glasses with determination. This was obviously some sort of test or else she would have just given him one. Something was wrong with one of the shots and he was supposed to pick the right one.

They both looked identical. The same size and shape of glassware with a clear liquid sitting on top of a heavy red looking substance that was still settling to the bottom of the glass. Upon closer inspection he saw that one of the glasses held a more red in color liquid while the other seemed slightly more pink. He made up his mind and grabbed the red one knowing full well what the consequences were. Temari grinned at him then took the other shot.

"Truce." He muttered before downing the shot. At first he recognized the top liquid, vodka. Soon after, fire began to burn in his throat and he was unable to stop himself from coughing. He thumped his fist on the table and looked up at her only to see a smug look on her face and a finished shot. Everyone was staring intently.

"What the hell was in that?" He said already knowing the answer.

"Hot fire sauce."

"And grenadine was in yours, am I right?"

"Yup." She got up off of the bench again this time grabbing Ino with her. "I'd say we're even now. C'mon Ino, let's get back to the dance floor."

This time around more people had left with her. She pulled the group along to the edge of the floor where he could still see her. Temari grabbed an unsuspecting man from his group of friends and began to grind with him. The man, at first shocked, was now pleasantly surprised and continued to dance with her. Temari looked at Shikamaru, smile still playing on her lips, winked, and turned back towards her partner.

Shikamaru turned his back on her and observed the remaining occupants. Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, Kankuro, and Chouji were all in a deep conversation about Sakura's most recent job development.

"We're going to miss you in Suna. I don't know what we're going to do without you. You just had to leave the department!" Kankuro was saying. Sakura blushed and waved her hand to tell him off.

"Oh shucks. You guys will be fine. Besides, Temari will at least be able to see me often and you guys can always visit." They were currently talking about Sakura's new residency at the Konoha General Hospital. She used to work at the Suna government medical research facilities but she decided to go back to her first love and was accepted very quickly as the head doctor. Shikamaru was more curious as to why Temari would be in contact with Sakura.

"So what do you guys do?" He pointed his question to the brothers. Gaara answered.

"We all work at the Suna State department. I work as a consultant for the Kazekage, Kankuro works with special operations, and Temari is the Konoha Liaison." Shikmaru's eyes widened in surprised.

"What?" He couldn't help blurt out. "Your last name names wouldn't happen to be Subaku would it?"

"Yes it is." Gaara said calmly but before he could ask how Shikamaru knew, the brown haired genius had stood up and started walking to the dance floor. He spotted Temari once again at the bar and approached her this time with a game plan.

"Hey there, back for more?" She said toying with him, shot in hand. He shook his head and leaned against the counter.

"So I hear you work for the state department." He started. She raised her eyebrows questioning him.

"Yeah as the Konoha Liaison to Suna. How about yourself?" He was banking on her asking that very question and unable to help himself he smiled.

"I'm the Deputy Suna Liaison to Konoha." Her eyes widened in understanding as Shikamaru watched her piece together the facts. The arrogant man in front of her was the same diplomat she had been in correspondence with for the last 6 months.

"You're Nara-san?!" She said in absolute shock. In mock respect he replied.

"Subaku-san." She growled as he continued to smile at her. Composing herself, she called to the bartender for one more shot, this time without the hot sauce. She handed one to Shikamaru.

"I can't believe this coincidence. I mean what are the chances?" She shook her head as Shikamaru nodded in agreement. He raised the shot glass.

"To diplomatic relations and convenient coincidences." He threw back the shot and watched her. She didn't flinch or make a face as the alcohol fell into her throat the way the other girls did. She took the substance like a pro and he was sure she must have been quite adept at drinking games while she was in college. She motioned for the bartender and he swiftly handed her another drink.

"Your work is extremely impressive." She gave him a compliment and he was going to use the opening to his advantage.

"There's a lot more to me that you'll find extremely impressive." He joked and for the first time she genuinely laughed, throwing her head back and clapping her hands. She grabbed his shoulder for support as she continued to chuckle.

"That was so dumb!" She let out before taking another drink. Shikamaru smiled and kept the conversation going.

They talked about their jobs at first, still feeding off of the surprise of finding out each other's work identities, then moved onto progressive politics. He was excited about how well she was able to keep up with the high level topics and found that he was thoroughly enjoying the conversation. As condescending as it sounded, it was the first time in a long time that someone in his field was as intelligent as he was. His colleagues were smart but they weren't exactly the genius that Shikamaru was. But Temari was clever and quick witted and was able to support all of her opinions with facts and more importantly, she fought him on anything she disagreed with. She never backed down and she never admitted defeat. He could tell she was equally as impressed with him as she slowly became more comfortable. But whether this was due to his witty banter or the alcohol was unclear. She was less testy now and more responsive to his subtle compliments. They had completely forgotten all about the time and had only noticed how late it was when the one minute timer flashed on the screen. Someone's hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around.

"It's almost time!" Ino shouted at him. Behind her everyone had gathered around to celebrate the New Year together. He saw Naruto holding Hinata from behind resting his chin on her shoulder. They went into their own world as Hinata turned to look into Naruto's eyes and Shikamaru knew they were totally and madly in love. He looked back at Ino.

"Are you going to call Sai?" He asked. She pulled out her phone and swiped to open it.

"I'm actually going to call him on skype now!" She moved to the side to call her fiance. He saw Chouji already on the phone talking to his girlfriend. The large man was smiling widely saying something along the lines of 'Next year we'll celebrate together'.

Shikamaru watch as everyone shifted into position. Sasuke and Sakura moved closer to one another and slowly turned to face each other. He watched as Sasuke tried to make sure no one was looking and the usually stoic man gave Sakura a small smile and grabbed her hand. Shikamaru moved on and witnessed Neji and Tenten give each other nervous glances and were very close to holding hands but at the last minute a drunken Lee jumped in between them. Tenten giggled and Neji let out a tired sigh. Perhaps they might finally be dating this time next year but Shikamaru doubted it with how slow Neji seemed to take things.

5

He heard the shouting begin. Kiba had managed to procure two pretty girls for him and Shino to kiss at midnight. Shino was uncharacteristically nervous and Shikamaru could see his face turning red as the girl held his hand. Kiba already had his arms wrapped around the other girl who looked ready for the clock to strike 12.

4

He turned to find Temari staring past him at the monitor and acted without thinking.

3

Shikamaru grabbed Temari's hand and pulled her towards him.

2

He pulled her into him by grabbing her waist, one hand on her mid back and the other on her lower. Temari looked at him in surprise but placed her own hands on his shoulders.

1

Their faces moved closer and Temari placed a soft hand on his face. He started to feel her hot breath on his lips. She smelled like flowers and tequila.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The room erupted into laughter and cheers. It was the first second of the New Year and he was kissing Temari Subaku, an impressive diplomat and the smartest, most clever, and hands down hottest woman he had ever met. He was expecting her to pull back after the cheers began so he kept his hands right where they were to prevent her from leaving. But instead of letting go, she took charge and wrapped her fingers into his hair pulling him closer to her. A few more seconds had passed before she let go of him and leaned back against the bar. She smiled at him coyly before speaking again.

"It's the new year." She lead. "You can buy me that drink now."

* * *

Oooooh spicy and fun, amirite guys? If you liked that you should leave an equally spicy and fun review. Also thanks for reading!

-AC


End file.
